Certificate of authenticity

[Francyne]

Hi Everyone, my dad bought an ES339 Vintage Sunburst back in 2012 at the Guitar Center in San Francisco. The serial number is CS250715, at that time I did not double check the case at Guitar center and we ended up with the wrong certificate of authenticity (CS252758), they had probably put this guitar in the wrong case and we have the wrong certificate of authenticity and somebody has ours. Did anyone buy the CS252758 and it also has the wrong certificate that we could swap?

 

[merciful-evans]

That must be annoying. Cant Gibson help?

[DanvillRob]

I'm guessing you never sent in the registration paperwork to Gibson?

Maybe then know who registered the guitar you have the COA for and can contact them.

 

[NighthawkChris]

Annoying is right. That’s like an itch you can’t scratch for sure. Good luck on your search. Maybe make a Reverb listing too to get some attention to it. I’ve seen someone do this before for a COA that they had and didn’t have the guitar - sort of the opposite of your situation. 

[slimt]

Gibson Nashville might be able to tell you which store got that guitar.   That store if it still exists might know who bought it.   Gibson Im pretty sure keeps records of sales 

[fortyearspickn]

Like Merciful suggested - your best bet is to contact Gibson Customer Service.  Chances of finding the person who bought the guitar you have the CoA for are less than winning the lottery. Chances of them actually having YOUR CoA are half of that.    If you have proof of purchase, photos of guitar (with your Dad holding a copy of today's New York Times)  they most likely would be able to just send you a new CoA.   It's not like you'd be asking for a new guitar.  G'Luck to you and your Dad.  

[badbluesplayer]

There is no way for Gibson to help you. They don't issue new COA's.  The COA is part of the case candy, like the inspection card.  It has no actual value.  You can't use it for anything,

You might run into somebody on here who has your COA, but I don't even know anybody on here who owns a 339.  Except you.  And if you want to sell the thing, let me know, lol.

Good luck.

[rct]

There is no Guitar  Ownership Administration.  Your registration card probably goes in a mail slot directly to the recycle bucket.  Gibson often doesn't know what their own serial numbers are or did, something like this is the same as flying to the moon.

rct

[Sgt. Pepper]

It’s a real Gibson and they F-ed up the COA. It is worth the same with or without that little slip of paper. How may guitars don’t ship with COA’s, tons. Get a good glass of scotch on the rocks and forget about it. 

[Francyne]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:41 PM, merciful-evans said:

That must be annoying. Cant Gibson help?

It really is, I contacted them and they cannot do anything about it because the Menphis factory closed and the do not have the original paper to issue new COAs. They did send me another one by email, but it is not the real one... I called them again and they said I could take the guitar to Nasheville and pay for a verification, but it is an original, just a messed up COA

[Francyne]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:43 PM, DanvillRob said:

I'm guessing you never sent in the registration paperwork to Gibson?

Maybe then know who registered the guitar you have the COA for and can contact them.

 

My dad did register it on the Guibson website, he just wanted the real COA. Thank you for your suggestion, I will try 

[Francyne]

14 hours ago, NighthawkChris said:

Annoying is right. That’s like an itch you can’t scratch for sure. Good luck on your search. Maybe make a Reverb listing too to get some attention to it. I’ve seen someone do this before for a COA that they had and didn’t have the guitar - sort of the opposite of your situation. 

Yeah for sure, thank you

[Francyne]

5 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

Like Merciful suggested - your best bet is to contact Gibson Customer Service.  Chances of finding the person who bought the guitar you have the CoA for are less than winning the lottery. Chances of them actually having YOUR CoA are half of that.    If you have proof of purchase, photos of guitar (with your Dad holding a copy of today's New York Times)  they most likely would be able to just send you a new CoA.   It's not like you'd be asking for a new guitar.  G'Luck to you and your Dad.  

Yeah, thank you so much. They say that since the Memphis factory closed they cannot help, but I will keep trying. Maybe we can find the person and swap, because the other person also has the wrong COA. Thanks for your suggestion

[Francyne]

5 hours ago, badbluesplayer said:

There is no way for Gibson to help you. They don't issue new COA's.  The COA is part of the case candy, like the inspection card.  It has no actual value.  You can't use it for anything,

You might run into somebody on here who has your COA, but I don't even know anybody on here who owns a 339.  Except you.  And if you want to sell the thing, let me know, lol.

Good luck.

Thank you, sure thing, my dad is a collector, right now we are not considering selling it, but if he changes his mind I will let you know

[Francyne]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

It’s a real Gibson and they F-ed up the COA. It is worth the same with or without that little slip of paper. How may guitars don’t ship with COA’s, tons. Get a good glass of scotch on the rocks and forget about it. 

Yes, I know, it is just since my dad collects them he usually try to keep all of the original tags, COAs, and everything. He is picky and he said that if buys another one he would like like to see a serial number with a mismatched COA. We will keep trying, but like you said the most important is the guitar that is the real deal

[Sgt. Pepper]

33 minutes ago, Francyne said:

Yes, I know, it is just since my dad collects them he usually try to keep all of the original tags, COAs, and everything. He is picky and he said that if buys another one he would like like to see a serial number with a mismatched COA. We will keep trying, but like you said the most important is the guitar that is the real deal

Yep, I owned 20 or so, Gibsons, and only 1 had a COA. 

[fortyearspickn]

22 hours ago, rct said:

There is no Guitar  Ownership Administration.  Your registration card probably goes in a mail slot directly to the recycle bucket.  Gibson often doesn't know what their own serial numbers are or did, something like this is the same as flying to the moon.

rct

Boy-o,   that hit's the nail on the head !    Proof is their saying they can't provide a copy of a silly piece of paper 'because the Memphis plant closed'.   Most companies want the 'warranty registration' card because they use it to harvest demographic information for the marketing weenies.   Who also lose it .   Proof of that is their new Dave Mustaine signature model for $5K.

[zigzag]

This is on GC, for what it's worth. That certificate is nothing more than proof of participation, not of purchase. If you ever have warranty issues, all Gibson needs  for POP is a copy of the sales receipt with matching serial number.

[jvi]

be carefull if you get one  ( a coa)  it could be faked, get a certificate for the certificate too , ...  just kidding ,...

[Murph]

I had one with my ES-339.

The next owner got it.

A very sweet guitar. If I was still electric, it would still be my # 1.

[Karloff]

beautiful guitar. hopefully GC can get it straightened out. 

[Big Bill]

I have an ES-339, and it will remain with me until the day I die. I love that guitar! 

[Francyne]

22 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Yep, I owned 20 or so, Gibsons, and only 1 had a COA. 

Oh wow, amazing that you have several, they are awesome guitars

[Francyne]

2 hours ago, Karloff said:

beautiful guitar. hopefully GC can get it straightened out. 

it really is, thank you

 

[Francyne]

4 hours ago, zigzag said:

This is on GC, for what it's worth. That certificate is nothing more than proof of participation, not of purchase. If you ever have warranty issues, all Gibson needs  for POP is a copy of the sales receipt with matching serial number.

yeah, thank you